


The Nightmares are Back

by snowflakesautumnleaves



Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Angry Pitch Black (Guardians of Childhood), Angst, How Do I Tag, Jack is sad, Nightmares, Trust Issues, the accents are probably horrible but i'm trying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 03:10:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16441877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowflakesautumnleaves/pseuds/snowflakesautumnleaves
Summary: Pitch wasn't happy that he lost his fight against the Guardians and blamed it on Jack. Now a year later he's ready to try again, this time using Jack as his secret weapon.





	The Nightmares are Back

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic and I'm not 100% sure of the plot yet but I have a few ideas. I don't have an update schedule yet (sorry) but I'll update when I can. I haven't read The Guardians of Childhood books yet (I'm getting them for Christmas) so if there are any inconsistencies with those books I'm sorry. I hope you enjoy!

It had been one year since the guardians defeated Pitch. A year was like a blink of an eye for the immortal beings. They expected Pitch to remain dormant for at least another century so their focus became purely on protecting the children and keeping them believing. Pitch, on the other hand, was angry. Angry that his plan had failed. Angry that the stupid, worthless, Jack Frost had gotten in his way. He was determined to get his revenge against the Guardians and started planning the same day that he was defeated. He worked non stop and after only a year of planning and recovering his strength, he was finally ready to try again. This time, he would bigger, meaner, stronger, and he would not lose.

Jack was flying around in the South Pole, letting the Wind take him wherever she wanted. He was bone achingly exhausted, having only slept once after the defeat of Pitch. That night was full of nightmares of drowning, reliving the fight, and being alone again with no one seeing him. The dreams terrified Jack, especially since he knew that Pitch, being chased away by his own nightmares, had no hand in it. Ever since that first night, Jack had been reluctant to sleep. He would never admit it to the other Guardians that he was too afraid to sleep, the only times he got any were from passing out from sheer exhaustion for a couple minutes and it was starting to affect him. Of course, he didn’t need to sleep to survive like humans did but a severe lack of it could seriously take a toll on his body and his powers. He didn’t play with the kids as much anymore as he just couldn’t keep up with their somehow  _ endless _ supply of energy. His storms had gotten much weaker and winter weather and snowfall that year was had been a record low. Within the past month though, everything had gotten worse. He couldn’t stand for long periods of time anymore, feeling like he could fall over at any minute. The purple bruises under his eyes got darker with each day and everything around him seemed fuzzy. Even with all of that Jack still didn’t want to sleep. Sleeping brought nightmares and nightmares felt like an invitation for Pitch to come back, something that Jack never wanted to happen again.

He had one of the monthly Guardian meetings to go to tomorrow and he knew that if he showed up in this state his friends would lose their minds, Tooth especially. She had a tendency to take up a motherly role around Jack (not that he’s complaining it was nice sometimes). The others would worry about his state too, Jack was like a little brother to everyone. At past meetings, they noticed that Jack looked a little more tired than usual but they never thought it was more than the kid tiring himself out in snowball fights. The weak winter was odd too but everyone was so busy with their own jobs that nobody commented on it.

As much as he hated it, Jack knew he had to get some sleep before the meeting. He didn’t want to deal with everyone questioning him. Being an elemental spirit he never really liked to settle and that meant that he didn’t have an established place to sleep. He used to lay down high up in some tree branches and fall asleep to the sounds of the city he was in. Tonight, he wasn’t in a city, he was in the barren land of Antarctica and without a tree to lie down in, so Jack searched for the next best thing, a cave to stay in. Once he found one, he walked in and examined it before doing anything else. It looked to be relatively small, going no more than ten feet back. Normally, Jack would have done a more thorough examination, more so than just looking around. He learned from experience that a lot of different spirits make their homes in caves, and most of them don’t like their home to be disturbed. Tonight though, he was just too tired to double check for any inhabitants. He curled up in a ball on the ground, letting his eyes fall shut, with sleep quickly taking over.

During his quick glance around the cave, Jack’s tired eyes missed something crucially important. On the back wall, there was a person-sized hole, leading to a seemingly endless network of caves. Had he noticed it he would have left immediately and found somewhere else to stay, because he didn’t want to disturb any spirits and he was in no condition to fight. Had he left he wouldn’t have fallen asleep in the entrance of the Nightmare King’s new lair. Pitch sensed the teen's presence the second he stepped foot in the cave. Exhaustion and fear radiated off of him in waves and Pitch couldn't help but smile as he approached him. He had spent the last year planning another way to take down the Guardians and Jack had just given him the perfect place to start. He conjured up some of his black dream sand and sprinkled over the spirit’s eyes. As Jack started to squirm in his sleep, he gripped his staff tighter with his face twisted in pain, Pitch did nothing but laugh at his helplessness. 

He bent down so that he mouth was level with Jack’s ear. “I hope you enjoy your Nightmare Jack because this is only the beginning,” Pitch whispered before standing back up. He made his way back through the hole and deep into his lair, an evil smile plastered on his face the whole time. He left the distressed Winter Spirit alone on the ground to deal with his terror. He couldn’t do too much to him now, that was his mistake last time. He did everything too fast before. He announced his plans to the Guardians, made it obvious what he was doing, and they were able to take him down. This time, he was going to do it slowly, and he was going to use the boy as a pawn without him even knowing.

About an hour after Pitch retreated Jack woke up with his hand clutched to his chest and he was gasping for air. It took a few seconds for him to register where he was. He was in the cave he chose to sleep in rather than at the bottom of a lake. Once the fear subsided and he felt like he could breathe again he stood up. He didn’t feel energized but he felt slightly less tired than before and that’s what mattered. He had gotten more sleep than he had gotten in the whole year and felt much stronger than he did before. Even though he felt better and knew that if he slept longer he would recover some more strength, he most definitely did  _ not  _ want to risk having another nightmare. They always felt too feel and he just couldn’t handle another one right now. The meeting was in a couple of hours anyway and if he showed up late he would get an earful from Bunny.

As Jack was headed for the cave entrance so he could leave, Pitch was much farther underground, creating one of his Nightmares. Black sand seemingly appearing out of thin air, taking the shape of what looked to be a horse, similar to the ones from last time. Only this horse had some distinctions from the ones Pitch used last year. It was almost double the size and it had large fangs and horns that looked like they could easily tear through flesh. Pitch petted the creature on the head before saying to it, “Follow him. Don’t be seen.” The creature neighed in response and galloped down the tunnels and after Jack.

Jack jumped into the air, staff in his hand, and said quietly “Take me to North’s place.” He didn’t want to use too much of his recovered power on getting to the meeting so he decided to just let the Wind carry him the whole way. It would take longer but the more energy he had when he got there the better.

He ended up only being late by a half hour. He flew in through a window in the Globe Room (North had left it open since the battle with Pitch so Jack would be able to come and go as he pleased.) The other Guardians were sitting at an adjacent table and the first one of them to speak was Bunny.

“We were startin’ to think you weren’t gonna show, Frostbite.”

Jack gave a small laugh in response, accompanied by a painfully forced smile. “Yeah, sorry I’m late.”

Sandy was the only to realize that the boy’s smile wasn’t the same as it usually was. It lacked all joy and fun and just looked plain sad. He shot Jack a worried glance before looking at the others to see if they had noticed anything.

“No worries Jack. Come, sit, we have much to discuss,” North replied.

Jack made his way over to the table and took a seat next to Bunny. As he walked he felt unsteady, like his legs could give out if he wasn’t careful enough. He had to lean on his staff for support and he noticed his hand shaking as he held on a little bit tighter. Once he was seated he took a quick glance at everyone around the table. If anyone had noticed anything, they weren’t expressing it, and that gave him a small amount of relief.

“What’s going on North?” Tooth asked with her wings fluttering anxiously. She hadn’t been able to get a good look at Jack when he came in but once he sat down it took every fiber of her being to not rush next to him and ask if he was okay. The poor boy looked like he hadn’t slept in who knows how long. The bags under his eyes were prominent and his normally radiant icy blue eyes were lifeless. His body shook when he walked and oh Moon, he just didn’t look like their Jack. The Jack who was filled with so much energy he was bouncing off the walls. This Jack looked like if he tried to stand up he’d fall right over.

“Easter is next week,” North began. “And I think we should give Bunny help with delivery. He makes twice as many eggs this year, to get children excited.”

Jack’s eyes widened at what he said. He couldn’t be serious. Hadn’t Jack been the one that made Easter a failure last time? Why would they want his help?

“Mate, I appreciate it but I really don’t-” Bunny began before being cut off by Jack.

“You, you’re not serious are you North?” Jack straightened himself in his seat, trying to look a little more put together. “We lost Easter last year because of me.”

“Oi,” Bunny threw one of North’s ever-abundant cookies at Jack. “It wasn’t your fault, mate. You told us what happened, we know it was Pitch’s fault.”

Jack didn’t respond and instead just stared at the cookie on the table, now broken in two pieces. He had told them after the fight how Pitch tricked him and they all instantly forgave him with looks of sadness and guilt on their faces. He didn’t understand why because it had been  _ his _ fault. He went after the voice even though he promised to go straight back to the Warren.  _ He _ ignored Baby Tooth’s caveats.  _ He _ fell into the trap and  _ he _ ruined Easter last year.

“I think it a lovely idea North,” Tooth said, breaking the silence. “Helping Aster deliver the eggs will ensure his believers keep believing.”

“That settles it!” North exclaimed, getting up from his chair. “We meet in Warren in one week.”

Bunny put his head in his hands and sighed. It’s not like he doesn’t appreciate what they’re doing, he actually thinks it’s rather sweet. He was so distraught after the kids couldn't see him last year, it’s nice his friends are trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It’s just, he doesn’t want the help. Easter is his job, his responsibility, he can handle it, even if he’s delivering twice as many googies this year. 

It was a short-lived meeting since the upcoming Easter was all that they had to talk about. Everyone had relatively important jobs to get back to so no one saw a point in staying for much longer than was necessary. Everyone except Jack, who was still staring at the cookie Bunny threw at him. He had zoned out when he started thinking about last Easter and now he couldn’t get out of his head. It was something that happened to him all the time now. If he wasn’t paying close enough attention to his surroundings he would get swallowed by his mind. Forced to think about everything he’s done in his three hundred years. It was never a fun experience. Now he was thinking about the battle, almost reliving everything all over again. He could see everything, the hatred, the heartache,  the betrayal, the fighting, the pain. He didn’t want to go through it again, he couldn’t, it hurt too much, why was this happening to him?

He snapped out of it suddenly when he heard tooth speak. “Sweet Tooth? Are you alright?”

She had gotten the attention of more than just Jack. Everyone who was on their way out stopped in their tracks and turned around. Why wouldn’t Jack be alright?

“F-fine. I’m fine Tooth. Jack stood up quickly from his seat. He grabbed his staff and started making his way over to the open window but he stumbled and almost hit the ground. Bunny had caught him at the last second and promptly placed him back in his chair.

“You don’t look fine to me Frostbite,” He said now that he was really paying attention to the state he was in.

“I said I’m fine,” Jack argued trying to stand up but Bunny kept pushing him back down.

“You look tired,” North began. “You can go upstairs and sleep if you’d like.”  
Sandy had swallowed his concern earlier but he couldn’t silence himself this time. Bunches of sand symbols quickly flashed above his head, asking what was wrong if he wanted some dream sand.

“No. Guys really, I’m alright.” He said, trying his hardest to smile. He managed to escape Bunny’s grip and get on his feet. “I’ll see you guys next week.” He jumped out the window and let the wind carry him away.

“Oh, Jack!” Tooth called as she flew to the window. He didn’t turn around.

“There’s somethin’ goin’ on with that kid,” Bunny said while seating himself. He had never called Jack a kid before because the thought had never occurred to him. Jack looked more than tired during the confrontation, he looked plain  _ young.  _ The thought scared Bunny but he put it to the back of his mind. There was a bigger picture to be worrying about than the winter spirit’s age.

“Wouldn’t he tell us if something was wrong?” Tooth asked.

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Bunny replied. “I doubt he’d trust us enough fer that.”

“What do you mean?” Tooth’s wings fluttered anxiously. “He’s been with us for a year now.”

Sand forming the symbols of Jack and clocks appeared above Sandy’s head.  _ But he was alone for three hundred. _


End file.
